The Ministry of Defence in India has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges for the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The move is a significant step towards indigenising defence equipment and is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India self-reliant.
A modular bridge, also known as a Mobile Bridging System (MBS) is a versatile combat support vehicle designed to support military operations by rapidly deploying tanks and armoured vehicles across obstacles such as rivers. This is equipped with a foldable metal bridge that can be unfolded in minutes to create a ready-made bridge across the gap.
The vehicle, typically armoured, acts as the chassis for the bridge and can be moved to different locations as needed. With the ability to cross various obstacles, such as craters, anti-tank ditches, blown bridges, railroad cuts, canals, marshy lands, rivers, and ravines, the system provides crucial support for armoured or infantry units during operations. Once all traffic crosses the obstacle, the vehicle reattaches to the metal bridge and retracts it for transport to the next obstacle.
The bridges have been designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and will be produced by L&T as the DRDO-nominated production agency. The contract was signed on February 8, 2023, at an estimated cost of over Rs 2,585 crore.
Each set of modular bridges consists of seven carrier vehicles based on 8x8 heavy mobility vehicles and two launcher vehicles based on 10x10 heavy mobility vehicles. They are capable of mechanically launching a single span 46-meter assault bridge that can be employed over various obstacles like canals and ditches with quick launching and retrieval capabilities. These bridges will replace the manually-launched Medium Girder Bridges currently being used by the Indian Army. The indigenous design and production of these bridges will offer many advantages over the current bridges, including increased span, faster construction times, and mechanical launching and retrieval capabilities.
This procurement will enhance the bridging capability of the Indian Army on the Western Front and demonstrate India's progress in designing and developing world-class military equipment. It will also pave the way for enhancing defence exports to friendly nations.